Kosovo detained two Islamic State terror suspects following repatriation from Syria

A Kosovo court said on Monday that it had detained two persons suspected of terrorism. Pristina Basic Court said the first person, with the initials H.S., was suspected of “voluntarily and in full conscience” joining Islamic State ISIS terrorist organization in Syria in November 2015.

The second person, with the initials Y.B., is suspected of participation in the Syrian war, also fighting alongside or for ISIS.

Kosovo outlawed participation in foreign armed groups in 2015 after more than 400 of its citizens joined the conflict in Syria, fighting alongside the Islamist terrorist organisations Al-Nusra and ISIS. Tens of those who returned from the Middle East faced trial and were imprisoned.

It is not known whether the latest two suspects belonged to the latest group of returnees from Syrian camps realized on Saturday in a joint operation with Albanian authorities.

Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla told the media on Saturday that he hoped local institutions would do their job in re-integrating the returnees through rehabilitation activities.

“This is not the first such operation, and I believe it will not be the last one. We will together try to repatriate all our compatriots,” Svecla said.

“But our work does not stop here. Our teams of different profiles now have lot of work to do so those individuals get rehabilitated into society,” he added.

Albania’s Interior Minister, Bledi Cuci, observed the return of 13 Albanian women and children at Pristina airport.

“We stand determined to repatriate every Albanian citizen who has remained there [in Syria]. We have exact statistics which we have developed with our partners in the region there,” Cuci said.

This was the fourth such operation repatriating Albanians who have been stuck in Syrian camps, with 43 people returned in total.

Source: SOHR